Recurrent Themes in American Film (a poem)

STALAG 17 (Billy Wilder, 1953)

Our Heroes are “sealed” men…“realized” only indirectly. They are “mysterious.”

They are “essential.” And they are always leaving us … “moving on,” “going West”…

shrinking from our embrace.

(and we yearn for them always)

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (Frank Capra, 1946)

And so, when our confidence “lags,” we take them out again, those old

photos…those pictures of Main Streets and Proms, of Gazebos and Lover’s Lanes. And

we are calmed, then…reassured.

(“We have lived so magnificently!”)

THE GREAT McGINTY (Preston Sturges, 1940)

But our paeans to the “common man” belie the “common man.” And our

“populism” remains an abstraction…a pallid card. Only our Exceptions are “real”… our

Grand Heroes and Damnable Villains. Our “histories” are their exploits.

(the “common man”… remains faceless)

THE PALM BEACH STORY (Preston Sturges, 1942)

And so (in desperation) we turn again to the American Inventor…(our “original

genius”)…at work in his cellar…concocting a “gadget” (a “mad-cap machine”)…that will

keep “chugging-on” forever. This buoys us.

(and keeps us from our thoughts)

HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO (Preston Sturges, 1944)

And we can still build it (can’t we?), this “innocent machine”…this “gay

contrivance”? We can “try to” (sure), but we always spot the “technicians” crouching

behind it…pulling its levers, ringing its bells.

(and it embarrasses us now…this attempt at grace)

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (Don Siegel, 1956)

“O for the ‘fifties’ again!” (we cry), “when the Army ‘showed up’ (and those

rounded police cars). When Bureaucracy was our buttress (eternal) against ‘pain’ and

‘uncertainty’.”

(it never occurred to us that “bureaucracy” too…could be invaded)

THE WILD BUNCH (Sam Peckinpaugh, 1969)

But we “know” (of course) that we still have a “mission,” (a “holy

justification”)…that is never delineated (never explained) …a “code of the hills,” that

“drives us,” that “fills us completely,” that “races the blood.”

(this American Thing)

SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (Preston Sturges, 1941)

But sometimes, in the midst of it all (my god!), in the “thrall” of our “success”…we

fall (stumble) into something really real…something so “deep” (something so

“immense”), that we “gasp”…

(and we…!)

POLLACK (Ed Harris, 2000)

For there (god!) beneath our “conventions” (beneath our “codes”) is something

“writhing” (something compulsively alive)…something pressing and burning and tearing

at our “artifacts.”

(and we grow afraid)

MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (Frank Capra, 1939)

But our first reaction to this “disruption”… is usually “charm” (a “disarming

rurality”)…the raised shield of our “simple goodness.” We grin…and expect (then), that

the “enemy” will “crumble.”

(we are so lovely)

HIGH NOON (Fred Zinneman, 1952)

But the American Hero cannot abide such “display,” such “wheedling.” He is

repulsed by our “false congeniality,” by our “cringing fear.” The American Hero remains

aloof. He stands on the Watchtower.

(he alone…remembers the original covenants)

MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (Frank Capra, 1936)

Though we still yearn for them anyway…those “simple pleasures” (“kite-flying,”

“banister-sliding”)…those “delights of yesteryear.”

“The Intellectuals have stolen these things!” (we cry). “The Aesthetes have taken

them…the City Dwellers!”

“Be we can get them back!”

(a few simple adjustments and…!)

MY MAN GODFREY (Gregory La Cava, 1936)

So we must diffuse “unpleasantness” (that’s the plan!). We must temper “reality”!

The Shop Girl must marry the Millionaire’s Son! And the Hapless Poor…must be Rich

With Each Other! But how they “stink”...these “sly” constructions.

(these cloying obstacles to the truth)

MARTY (Delbert Mann, 1955)

And we must insist that the Little Man…rejoice in his Smallness. For each of us

(after all) must project a Decent Humility. Our Heritage (our Democracy)…demands

obeisance. Of course…this is all a game.

(if we could, we would devour the world)

GILDA (Charles Vidor, 1946)

It was the War that caused the Problems!...(we insist)…the Cynicism and the

Loveless Sex! But the American Couple (God bless ‘em!) will soon be Coming Home!

And it’s Mom, they’ll seek! And Sally! And they’ll still be there!

(they’ll still be there!)

BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (John Sturges, 1954)

For even those “broken down old towns,” those “burgs on the brink” still dream of

revival, still dream of “restarting the engine”… of “repainting the Hall.” And soon

everything seems “providential” again…rumors, coincidences.

(even consecutive sunny days)

THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (John Huston, 1950)

But things are more “desperate” now. Even “crime” seemed more “explicable”

(years ago)…a byproduct of the “the environment.” But it is more “threatening” now,

more “demonic” (criminality). It comes Vaulting Through The Night!

(and we are helpless to stop it!)

THE BROADWAY MELODY (Harry Beaumont, 1929)

O for those Simpler Times (we cry), when the “hoofer” didn’t Play the Palace, and

had to return to a “lesser” Vaudeville…to those grueling Five-A-Days. And this seeming

to be the worst thing that could befall a person.

(not like today’s grave problems)

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, 1951)

O to be young…to be In Love again!...Singing!...Dancing!...Walking Deliciously

on Air! To Run in the Rain! To Twist in it! To Twirl!

(to sing again…those magical songs)

ANCHORS AWAY (George Sidney, 1945)

But these “eggheads” (these “serious artists”)…threaten our “reverie”! We must

contain these “killjoys”! We must “subdue” them…surround them with “pets” and “small

children”! And then they can’t “hurt” us.

(these “geniuses”!)

HOLIDAY INN (Mark Sanrich, 1942)

Ah Safety! In a Country Inn (“on a rolling meadow”) we are pleased to find “white

actors” presenting “our history”… portraying Thanksgiving Indians and Emancipated

Darkies…while we Lounge and eat Roast Beef.

(what an oddity we are…we Americans)

LOLITA (Stanley Kubrick, 1961)

Have you noticed that those people who seem too “cultured” (too “intellectual”),

never seem “really American.” Too “unaligned,” they seem, too “foreign”…and even too

“effeminate.” They live in big cities.

(and God knows what they do there)

BARRY LYNDON (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)

But we can admire “history” (we really can) with its many “curves and

undulations.” But it has no effect on us (this history) for we are each “individual” (we

Americans). We are each “special,” “free”…and “completely on our own.”

(“history” is our backdrop, our accompaniment)

FUNNY FACE (Stanley Donen, 1956)

But it’s still “fun” watching these “historical characters” (these “old-timers”)…in

their “spats” and “straw boaters.” But we can’t watch them for long, no, for they remind

us too much of our own lost past…of our own increasing slippage.

(and so we only pretend amusement)

ROYAL WEDDING (Stanley Donen, 1951)

And more and more (yes) we envision “other countries” as “enchanted isles”…

“as sweet magical preservations.” And we increasingly long to go to those places, and

even pretend that we are in those places…and are “gay” in those places…and “care-

free” (in those places).

(and do not think of “here” so much)

EYES WIDE SHUT (Stanley Kubrick, 2000)

But a new sort of introversion “arises.” And the “outside world” seems more

“unreal”… more “disorienting.” If we can only “purify our inner-thoughts” (we believe)

“free them from contagion”…then perhaps we will “succeed.”

(and we try this…for a while)

THE MALTESE FALCON (John Huston, 1941)

But the Private Investigator (the Intrepid “Dick”) is never “taken in” by all this

“prevarication.” He is Steady. He is Solid. He shuns the Quick Fix and the Flashy Dame.

His Glance Never Wavers. His Eye Is On The Prize.

(no la-te-dah for him!)

FRIENDLY PERSUASION (William Wyler, 1956)

Don’t be so “fuzzy” (he says). Don’t be so “confused.” When life gets “tough” (and

it always does), we all “revert to the beast”: We all “plunder.” We all “kill.” So “get wise,”

brother! “Walk the line!” Don’t be a “poet.”

(don’t be a “bleeding heart”)

FAT CITY (John Huston, 1971)

And so upset, disoriented, we again try to gather our “certainties” (our “everyday

facts”)… to construct something “solid” out of them…something “real.” But this

“amassing” soon “clogs” us, “congests” us.

(these “bits”… they won’t cohere)

THE BANK DICK (Edward Cline, 1940)

O to Bend again…to Stretch…to Reach Upward. To Scamper. To Slide. To

Tweak Noses. To Smash Lamps. To Flail Deliciously again.

(and to even imagine this…!)

THE COCOANUTS (Joe Stantly, Robert Florey, 1926)…The Marx Brothers

To soar! Yes! To be free of all Enticements…all Commitments! To escape what

Binds us, what Enfolds us! This is possible, yes (“most doable”)...but only for a moment.

(we are balloons on a string)

STEAMBOAT BILL JR. (Charles F. Reisner, 1928)

To begin to Rise! To Escalate! To Float! To finally Choreograph our Pain, our

Agony…(and even our Demise)! To make everything (o!)…Balletic again!...Expansive!...

Refreshed!

(to be again…at the beginning)

THE GOLD RUSH (Charlie Chaplin, 1925)

But we are still Empathetic (aren’t we?) We still acknowledge Pain and Human

Suffering (do we not?). There is still something “young” about us…something

“progressive.” “We were all immigrants once!”

(we love saying this)

GOOD NEWS (Charles Walters, 1947)

And so we trot them out again…these “retreads” (these aged “freshmen”)…

“youthful” in their “spats” and “raccoon coats”... to “repair” (once more) to the Olde

Sweet Shoppe.

Will they ever graduate (these “kids”)?

(and what kind of work will they do?)

A DAY AT THE RACES (Sam Wood, 1937)…The Marx Brothers

But there is such a thing as “new blood” (yes), as “immigrant vigor”… (“I believe

this!...I cling to this!)…the capacity to “restart,” to blow everything “dead” out of the

water. “There’s a new wind rising!” I know this!

(at least I think I do)

THE BARKLEYS OF BROADWAY (Charles Walters, 1949)…Astaire, Rodgers

But sometimes she really believes (this lady!) that she is “aging well.” And she

relaxes. But when the Impresario shouts, “Get out here Old Gal!” she is suddenly

“herself” again. She is suddenly “smitten”…and “rarin’ to go.”

(“Hey, Larry,” she shouts… “the costumes still fit!”)

SHORT CUTS (Robert Altman, 1993)

You see, everything is ok. (it really is) It is only the convention of despair that

“seduces” us. Why “decline” is our Mother’s milk. We talk corruption, sure…(“kids

today!...etc.”)…but it’s just “the style.” We’re actually “groovy.”

(life is good!)

TOP HAT (Mark Sandrich, 1935)…Astaire, Rodgers

The Old Days (though) are our Juiciest Gum. Forget their Garishness (their

Artificiality). They are Rich…and Full Of Flavor. They are Succulent and Sustainable.

And so completely Suffuse us.

(and give a spring to our step)

SWING TIME (George Stevens, 1936)…Astaire, Rodgers

But even our Commercial Culture captures (sometimes) a real body, a real

nipple…pulsing through the gauze. “Life is throbbing!” “Life has actual currency!” And

we are amazed by this “fact”…(astounded!).

(and we remember “art”)

DUCK SOUP (Leo McCary, 1933)…The Marx Brothers

And we cry out (in exhilaration)… “At last! At last! We have finally Succeeded!

The Barriers have Broken! The Real is upon us! The Immediate! The Brazen Romp!

The Palpable Press!”

(the revolution in dream)

SHAMPOO (Hal Ashby, 1975)

But something has “gone.” And the Old Heroes seem “cardboard” now. And the

New Ones “veiled,” “unpredictable”…“dangerous to behold.” They are the “drifters” and

the “mystical tramps.”

(they will lead us back!)

PUBLIC ENEMY (William Wellman, 1931)

But our “sorrows” grow…and we shout: “They are the Ones (those Outsiders)!

They have Corrupted us! They have Weakened Our Resolve! We must Halt Their

Advances! We must call in…The Police!”

(and we can breathe again)

THE SHINING (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

But the “times” are “blazing.” They won’t stand still. The rules bounce. The

windows shift. And our house (o!) has become a “funny house”… a “composite” of bleak

and broken things. Anything can happen here!

(anything!)

DEAD RECKONING (John Cromwell, 1947)

And so a “perch” must be found, a “fixed repose.” “The War!” we shout. “That’s

when we Lived, that’s when we Rejoiced…we Negroes, Catholics, Protestants, and

Jews. A Comradery, we had! A Brotherhood!

(and what do we have now?)

DR. STRANGELOVE: or HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE

BOMB (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)

And so it continues…this “breakage,” this “despair.” While “above ground” thing

“proceed.” But what does it take to “keep things running,” to keep them …“on track”? A

lot, I tell you! But we…CAN DO! The Atom Bomb…?

(a light bulb, a mushroom)

THE HUCKSTERS (Jack Conway, 1947)

But it’s a New Game now! And our Hero (this former soldier) sports a “snappy

hate”…and “loafer shoes.” And his tie is “lively.” And his “smile is wide.” And his “Gal is

Sal.” And his future…“golden”

(and he wants to die)

MANHATTAN (Woody Allen, 1979)

And so he must “reassess” (our Hero)…“reconstitute.” And his City becomes “the

world”… and his Borough, “the center of the world”… and his Street, its “life-line.” And

his Block…its “beating heart.” And he can “rest” now.

(he need never leave home)

BEING THERE (Hal Ashby, 1979)

For he has “learned” (finally) that Ignorance cuts through Complexity. And that

Stupidity is a Staircase. And that the Simpleton…(freed from Cognition)…becomes an

Inspiration!...a Panacea!

(a “rock” to build on)

THE BIG SLEEP (Howard Hawks, 1946)

And an Impasse is merely a Puzzle (he concludes)…a Problem to be Solved:

John will find Mary!...Murder Will Out!...The Butler Did it!...The Jewels Are In the Safe!”

Everything “fits” now!

(everything “jells”!)

HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (Woody Allen, 1986)

And then our tiny “walk-up” will “suffice”…with its “miniatures” and “ancient art.”

The Outside may “bristle.” But Inside there is “Mozart” and “Modigliani” and “The

Budapest String Quartet.” Let the Outside rage!

(for “bagels” we have…and “brie”!)

ANNIE HALL (Woody Allen, 1977)

But “deeper” we are pushed…(“always deeper”). For the Outside is “more

threatening” now. And the Inside has developed… “cracks.” The walls are “upon us,”

and our own bodies we smell. We are “imprisoned” here!

(there is no place to go!)

THE RIGHT STUFF (Philip Kaufman, 1983)

But it’s hard to withstand this “incoherence” (this “constant buzz”). So we “strain”

for a “face”…for a “fixed human attribute.” “Remember those Strangers (we shout)…

“those Bright Rambling Ones”? They Strode Through Our Day.

(and we miss them terribly)

THE SPANISH PRISONER (David Mamet, 1998)

But at times we “forgo” this search for Innocence (for Goodness) and “employ”

Innocence…as a “device”: (“the innocent spider versus the gullible fly”). And it feels

“good” to become more “cynical”…less “serious” about things.

(to let the air out…for a while)

RUNNING ON EMPTY (Sidney Lumet, 1988)

But “Stop!” we cry. “Stop!” We want these “collisions” to stop…to desist!...to no

longer be the “rebel child” or the “kid on the lam”… for things to get “regular” again. To

get “stable”… “rooted.”

(to “bike-ride” and…?)

THE FRENCH CONNECTION (William Friedkin, 1971)

But we are “oafs,” we “Americans” (really!)…merely pretenders at Culture. Even

the ordinary “French” (with their “girth” and “vulgarity”) are more “polished” than we

are…and “better read.” We are “handy” (sure).

(But the “Europeans” make us…?)

FULL METAL JACKET (Stanley Kubrick, 1987)

“Is there really no end? Is there no stopping this descent?” And so we grope for a

“fixity” (we Americans)…an “image,” a “posture,” an “horrific persona” (a “mask,”

finally)…to terrify the world!

(what mask?)

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (Peter Bogdonovich, 1971)

We are more “disconnected” (now)…more “alienated.” And so we “hold” to our

“streets,” to our “original neighborhoods”…consecrating every “lot,” every curb-stone.” A

“wall” has been erected…a “full enclosure.”

(and we cannot peer over)

STARDUST MEMORIES (Woody Allen, 1980)

Oh we can fake “inclusiveness” (sure!)…taking the “broader” view (“mankind,”

“the human condition”). But Universals cannot really satisfy us…we Americans. We are

too “individual,” too “discrete.”

(each one of us a world)

BOB ROBERTS (Tim Robbins, 1992)

Our “leaders,” though, are cagey. They know how to “manipulate” us…to “milk

our longing”…our Appetite For Good. But “perceiving their trickery” only makes us more

distraught…more despairing.

(our “bottom” knows no bottom)

BONNIE AND CLYDE (Arthur Penn, 1967)

Is the paint “watered”? Is it coming off the wall? Have the pictures detached? And

are we fogbound…drifting…falling in dream? But the “attacks” seem real! And the

“bullet-holes”!

(and the “blood”!)

APOCALYPSE NOW (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)

And are we now at the End (the Very End)…where the Golem waits…(crouching,

drooling)? And didn’t we always know he’d be there (our Golem), determined to confront

us…to embrace us?

(and lick our necks?)

THE BAND WAGON (Vincente Minelli, 1953)

And as we approached “adulthood” (“maturity”), we “stumbled”…(remember?).

We “blanched” and “back-tracked,” and returned (then) to that “glade”…to that “second

childhood.”

(“advancement”…was a bear!)

THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (Peter Yates, 1983)

And so we now are the Masters of Consumption! A nation of Impulse and

Appetite…tolerable (perhaps even charming) when applied to a “comical Subculture.”

But grievous as a Totality.

(Who are we? Where have we gone?)

BLOW (Ted Demme, 2000)

Has it all been a delusion, this “upward journey,” this trip to “god-knows-where”…

(this “tiny reconnaissance”)…only to wind up “at home” again…nodding, drifting, sitting

there with Ma? It “buoyed” us.

(and was over so quickly)

LOVE AND BASKETBALL (Gina Prince-Byethwood, 2000)

And what is “real” (we now ask)? What is “essential”? Our Culture “jostles”

everything like a “sorter”… shifting patterns, shapes…connoting each “article” with a

“new and wonderful feeling.”

(the music under the action)

THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO (Whit Stillman, 1998)

Boxes slip into boxes…roles into roles. The costumes are bought…the music,

pre-arranged. One can be “anything” now…a “Cowboy,” an “Arab”… a “Flapper from the

Jazz Age.”

(or nothing at all)

REDS (Warren Beatty, 1989)

The Communist Revolution (then) pales next to the Love Story fronting it. The

Boy and The Girl (toothsome, gigantic) fill the screen. Theirs is the real “happening.”

(theirs is THE FIFTY DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD)

DEAD MAN WALKING (Tim Robbins, 1995)

To grasp something real (again)! A real South! A real Rurality! A real Life! (A real

Death!) A real Commitment…and a real Response!

(to say at last…”I love you”)

WAG THE DOG (Barry Levinson, 1997)

But they pass so quickly…these Meanings…these Eternal Verities…(these

rocks, these shores). So quickly it passes…our “legacy,” our “history.”

(this pond we go a-skating on)

TAXI DRIVER (Martin Scorsese, 1976)

And our “aspirations” clank. And our “abilities” clatter. Morality? Success?

Soaring Justice? Nothing “jumps out at us”! Nothing … “prevails”!

(as we ride by)

MEAN STREETS (Martin Scorsese, 1973)

And the “new generations” are merely “stocked fish”… (we can see that now)…

“chubs,” “crawlers”… poor “suckers” thrown in to be “hooked.”

(and to wriggle painfully)

ABSENCE OF MALICE (Sidney Pollack, 1981)

But she still needs Love (our Heroine). And those “old-time heroes” seem much

more “authentic,” much more “desirable”… than her own “dull” associates.

(than her own…”more natural” friends)

THE HOUSE OF MIRTH (Ronald Davies, 2000)

But the Great Ones have departed! (We know that now!) And we mourn their

passing…and ignore the paid surrounding us…(the gaunt widows and palsied

orphans)…as we gaze toward the heavens.

(our feet in blood!)

BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (George Roy Hill, 1969)

And they are more “lax” (these current “heroes”)…more “sweet,” more

“domesticated”… preferring to “waltz,” and “loaf,” and dream more of becoming

“storied”… of becoming “legendary.”

(a freeze-frame forever)

TWISTER (Jan de Bont, 1996)

But they still oppose “weakness,” these “heroes”… “No Bookworms and Mama’s

Boys Allowed!” The Gut Instinct is what they prize…the Raw Meat and the Adrenalin

Rush. “Tally ho!” they cry.

(“tally ho!”)

THE TRUMAN SHOW (Peter Weir, 1999)

But it’s over now. (yes!) And those who clung to the “small towns” have since

moved “elsewhere”… only to find “elsewhere” (too) just a “ploy”…just a “fabrication.”

(just a pre-cursor to “the Mall”)

NORMA RAE (Martin Ritt, 1976)

But they still can “amaze” (can’t they?)…those little “burgs,” (with their “small

amusements” and “infectious gripes”)…being “struck” by a New Cause

(occasionally)…by a New Reason to Live?

(a candle flickering)

IN THE BEDROOM (Todd Field, 2001)

But it’s happened now (the murder!)…and the town is “gutted.” And the “Main

Street” is “devastated”… an horrendous museum. A dog barks. The wind pushes trees.

(the couple can’t sleep)

GOSFORD PARK (Robert Altman, 2000)

And only the “individual” remains…the lonely, “pristine” Self. The rest (finally) just

“detritus”…“foreign stuff”… shackles for the “soaring soul.”

(all men are islands)

NATIVE SON (Jerold Freedman, 1985)

And all that “maneuvering” now has sunk out of consciousness…(all that

“commotion”): The Plight of the Negro, the Rise of the Working Class. To even think of

these “things”… seems so “retrograde.”

(those old revolutions)

NETWORK (Sidney Lumet, 1976)

The train has toppled. The contents spilt. (The clasp is broken…and the

necklace, undone.) “Existence” is “manufactured” now. And “life” (living) is “visually

enhanced.”

(we watch it on television)

THE DEER HUNTER (Michael Cimino, 1978)

And as we sink deeper and deeper into our “America” (into our lonely well), we

must cradle each other (we surely must), and sing again…all those sweet old

“anthems.”

(all those tender old songs)

THE PARALLAX VIEW (Alan J. Pakula, 1974)

The Hero is distracted now, disoriented. “Here’s the enemy!” “There’s the

enemy!” “Truth” seems a “pretext” to him…(a “finagle”): “Oswald Shot Kennedy…The

Killer Acted Alone!”

(the way of things…is decided in secret)

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (Fredrick Wiseman, 2001)

A Few Things (though) We Can Count On

1. “community is possible”

2. “recovery comes in steps”

3. “one begins to like oneself”

4. “a cure in imminent”

(this boat we fashion)

I AM SAM (Jessie Nelson, 2001)

We must be more “clever” now…more “ingenious”! We must add “slow-motion” to

our repertoire, and “dream-sequences”… and “rousing musical scores.” Then we will

soar!

(these “tricks”… are the attraction)

THE FOUNTAINHEAD (King Vidor, 1949)

But our Heroes still “fade.” They must leave us (in fact). They must become “a

memory.” They must be seen as “beyond us,” as “super-human”… as the “life-force”

itself.

(these “distances”… bringing them closer)

LONE STAR (John Sayles, 1996)

But where are the “good old days!” (we ask). Where is the “intimacy,” the “human

touch”! Is the “tabula rasa” still possible: “parking at the Drive-in,” “the Old Blue

Chevrolet”?

(Sweet Pilar…and Shy Billy Brown again?)

CHOOSE ME (Alan Rudolph, 1984)

But it is “cubism,” we actually have (“fractured reality”)… “bent innocence,”

“distorted love.” And even the Hero seems “warped” to us … “discombobulated.”

(“kaleidoscoped,” “jazz-mad”)

MONSTER’S BALL (Marc Foster, 2002)

We must “fasten” (now) on “simple facts”… on “everyday experience.” And

although our “routines: do not “bind” (do not “explain”), we must cling to them

anyway…we must wring them dry!

(what else can we do?)

CRADLE WILL ROCK (Tim Robbins, 1999)

But we still remember (yes) a Golden Time…(a General Flowering)…when

Dignity Bloomed and Community Blossomed. But now just “loss” remains.

(the loss…of everything)

BREAKDOWN (Jonathan Mostow, 1997)

The old stories seem slack now (useless)…just a frame for “mini-events”

(explosions, car-crashes)…each “cataclysm” (perhaps) a little world, a little universe in

itself.

(jewels with no setting)

SUNDAY (Jonathan Nossiter, 1997)

Yes, it’s gone, it’s all “finished”…(we believe). And all of our “activity” has been

reduced to…? It seems so vacant now, this Mall…this fixed enclosure.

(where we knock about)

DRAGONFLY (Tom Shadyac, 2002)

And even Death itself (that Ultimate Mystery) is just a Commodity: “If it

sells…why not?” “I see your wife approaching…her presence swells…her spirit is

luminous!”

(o goody!)

SCRANTON, PA (Bill Morissette, 2002)

But the Old Books are still excellent! (They really are!) And it’s fun (sometimes) to

just “toy with them” (to “stir them up”)…to make them more “pressing”…more “relevant.”

(“and so this Macbeth guy…!”)

AMERICAN PSYCHO (Mary Harron, 2000)

Until it’s that “nausea” (finally), that lack of “meaning” (that sudden plunge), that

causes one to reach out for “something”… even one’s pain, even one’s humiliation.

(anything!)

JUDY BERLIN (Eric Mendelsohn, 2000)

But when “all” has been shattered (when “all” has been lost), we retrieve them

again (our “remnants”)…and “reassign” them. And how lovely they now seem…how

“delectable”!

(this bent fender…that section of string)

GUMMO (Harmony Korine, 1997)

But how quickly they all “fade” (become “conventional” again) these “epiphanies,”

these “exceptions”… these “convulsions of fact.” They all “clump.” They all become “our

history.”

(nothing flies free)

STOP MAKING SENSE (Jonathan Demme, 1984)

But this “shrinkage” (this “diminishment”), has its “advantages”… becoming

“more graspable,” at least…allowing us the pleasures of “certainty,” of “control.”

(this aesthetic of the “small”)

BLACK AND WHITE (James Toback, 1999)

But everything is “shifting”! Nothing is sustainable: “detective,” “gangsta,”

“student,” “anthropologist”! “Black” contains “white,” and “white”…a black dot!

Everything “uncouples”! Everything “collides”!

(in this Tao of delusion)

KISSING JESSICA STEIN (Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, 2001)

But in the “midst of it all”…they are still “visible”… (that Steadfast Boy and

Vulnerable Girl). She…is “not what we’re used to.” And He…“hardly the man.” But we

must make our “allowances.”

(“America” lives!)